Music in His Soul

Music in His Soul

Damn–Some days you simply do not feel like getting out of bed. A sense of pending disaster leaves a dull feeling of unease. Nate opened his eyes and as he rolled out of bed and as he viewed the skyline from his penthouse suite, wondered what upheaval was awaiting him. On other days like this nothing major happens but this brooding feeling of unease was strong. He headed to work in the back of the limo still wondering what’s coming next. He decided not to drive today since he had some reports he had to look over.

Nathan Wilson was never usually an emotional man, really. In the contrary, one could call him the most reasonable and balanced one among the Wilson brothers, which by default also made him the most boring son of the family.

Fortunately for him being boring, also meant being the smart one among the three brothers. That, Nate could claim without false modesty. Music-wise though, Nate was the least talented son among Wilhelm Wilson’s heirs. Unlike his younger brother Christian, who was an extremely talented composer, to say the least, and his contradictory older brother Kay, who dwelled in the undergrounds of the music world, Nate was but a well-educated legal and financial expert – a graduate of the prestigious Stanford.

Everything in his life was meticulously planned and there was no such thing as space for improvisations – law and numbers never went well with spontaneity anyway. That mindset had secured his position as the Chief Financial Officer of the family business – W’Records.

Nate recalls the one thing in his life that did not go as planned- his love life. His ex-bride Viola had run off with one of the musicians signed at their company. The guy was even supposed to play at their wedding. And today was one of those days when everything around him seems to remind him of his ex-fiancé.

Back to business. My private life drama has nothing to do with this business, Nate reminded himself as he entered the W’Records building and headed to his private office. He opened the door to face the now familiar huge oak desk and comfortable executive chair situated in the center of the room flanked by plush visitors’ chairs. A complete and well-stocked bar was to the right and entrance to his private suite was on the other side. Much is required of him in his position as CFO so having a comfortable, albeit luxuriously furnished, retreat at the office often times come in handy.

He headed to the bar to make his own coffee. This is his usual routine. No need to wait for his executive assistant to make it for him.

Being the CFO of one of the leading music companies in the country often meant being the bearer of bad news. Their father – Wilhelm Wilson hated bad news, though, he also always eventually regarded them as a challenge.

Since Nate’s last quarterly report not much had changed in the company’s financial performance. Kay had managed to bring on board a very talented singer – Nell, who also immediately became his older brother’s new girlfriend. Or perhaps it happened in the other way around? Nell had an absolute talent, not only for singing power metal but also for convincing Kay to sing several songs with her on her next album. As awesome as that discovery was, it is still early days yet for that new project to make any significant change in the bottom line. His father Wilhelm will need to be patient just a bit longer to see where the charts will take Nell and therefore W’Records. Nate sat at his desk with a rueful expression,

“Morning, Nathan,” said Betty. His executive assistant seemed a bit too cheerful for his liking this morning. “The accountant for the recording department asked for a meeting with you. I scheduled her for half an hour from”

“Hmm, good mornings always should start with some numbers,” Nate tried to joke. “Let me know when she gets here.”

In the meantime, he would catch up on his reading. He unpacked his laptop and put aside his latest gadget, an android smartphone loaded with tons of VR games and music. His brothers would have a field day poking fun at him if they catch a glimpse of it since they insist that his version was now dated. Huh! Just six months old and they are calling it dated. Still, he was not willing to part with just yet. He is a senior executive in the fast-paced music industry and while he must stay on top of new technologies that affect the business he did not need to have the latest in these gadgets personally.

Nate had just started sipping his second cup of coffee and was browsing through the financial news when Betty advised him that the accountant was there. Nothing could have prepared him for what came in through the doors into his office. His early morning misgivings cranked up a notch.

“Good morning Mr. Wilson,” said the woman, who was an absolute doppelganger of Nate’s ex-bride Viola. “I am Louise, the new accountant.”

“Yeah…” Nate suddenly lost all the words that were convenient for some small talk. He had to take a moment to collect his ragged thoughts and calm the storm in his head. This is beyond weird.

At this point in his life, any reminder of his ex-fiancé was still having a bad effect on him. “Um… Nice to meet you,” he said avoiding to look at her. “Leave the report here, I’ll look through it and we can talk later.”

Even the disappointment on her face reminded him of Viola – her straight dark brows furrowed and a slight frown ran over her lips before she hid her expression, and smiled at him with her thin, yet beautiful lips, that were so Viola-like.

“Of course, Mr. Wilson,” she said, “But I want to make some changes in the format for these reports and Ethan advised that I should run through the proposed changes with you before we go any further.”

Also as stubborn as Viola, Nate thought to himself.

“Well, we can’t disobey the chief accountant’s advice, now can we? Have a seat, please, Louise.”

She sat down and placed her tablet on the table to start her presentation. Before speaking again, Louise pushed her glasses up her nose – another gesture that Viola would always do when she was nervous.

“Here, I have made two separate graphs, where you can compare the financial flows of the last month and the expenses we have already made this month,” she started

Nate did his best to keep his eyes on the tablet though all he wanted was to stare at Louise’s face trying to find at least one thing that did not remind him of his ex.

So pathetic, he scolded himself.

It had been almost three years since she had left him, but any reminder of the woman made Nate uncomfortable. Surprisingly, Nate was now realizing that the effects have greatly diminished. He was no longer behaving like a jumpy teenager at the mention of her name.

“Louise, how long have you been working here?”

“Just two weeks, Mr. Wilson. I am filling in for Mrs. Gaston who is on leave.”

“Are you related to Viola Mason?”

“Yes, Sir. She’s my older sister.” With that, Louise’s complexion changed to almost beet red and she cast her eyes to the floor.

Okay. No need to wonder what she knows.

“Oh, Mr. busy-bee, all plugged into the world of numbers already?” Christian’s loud voice was accompanied by the soft thudding sound of the door hitting the wall. Thankfully, it was loud enough to chase away Nate’s gloomy thoughts. “Oops, am I interrupting something?” Chris asked with an innocent questioning tone of voice as if the door had sprung open completely on its own. “Betty was not there, so I thought I’d just walk in.”

“That we can see,” Nate grumbled at his brother. Deep in his heart, he was quite grateful for this timely intrusion.

“Thank you, Louise. Please finalize the revisions with Mr. Wilson and have him e-mail his recommendations.”

Nate leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath, as the woman nodded exactly in the way Viola would’ve done and left his office.

“Hmm, is it me, or is she the exact copy of your bitchy-ex?” Chris asked after he watched her carefully close the door behind her. Trust Christian to always pointing at the elephant in the room!

Nate could not blame him for voicing the truth. Although this is one day that he would have been happy not to have any reminders of his Ex.

“If you find a more pleasant conversation for your morning visit, I’ll be endlessly grateful,” Nate muttered.

“Sure thing, bro. Mom has announced a family dinner tonight.” Chris said as he launched himself into the armchair. “And she was mentioning about that girl – her neighbor’s daughter – what was her name, Ann Something? She has her own business”

Nate rolled his eyes. Chris knew exactly what her name was and right now was enjoying Nate’s discomfort. When Maya Wilson wanted to play a matchmaker, there was no natural disaster more dangerous than her. With Kay happily in a relationship for several months now, Nate had the honor of being the center of his mother’s attention.

“Can this day get any better?” He was definitely skipping the family dinner tonight!

In fact, the day was still going to get much worse than Nate could have imagined. He came upon some old vacation pictures of him and Viola which he had stashed in an old folder, while he was looking for some archived contracts. Afterward, his executive assistant ordered Viola’s favorite Chinese salad for lunch. And then, to top it off, Kay came up with the brilliant idea of hiring the guy Viola had dumped him for, to play on one of their new albums. What’s going on in the universe!!

Was he still supposed to concentrate on work after all of this?

Nope! Nate called it a day at 5:00 pm sharp.

Something completely out of the ordinary is called for. Aha. Pizza it is! I haven.t had a slice in a long time. Preferably in a place, where nobody would recognize me, and where I could sit and reflect while drowning my sorrows in a glass of beer.

Leaving his car in the parking lot, Nate started walking, determined to find something to distract him from the day’s events. For sure, a well-deserved pity-party is in order. What could ever go wrong with that?